Celebrities Need to Use Their Influence For Good

photo courtesy of pexels / tracy le blanc

Celebrities these days get paid way too damn much to do way too damn little. The LEAST they can do is use their massive platforms to educate their followers. 

We all know Taylor Swift. She’s been famous since she was 14 years old in 2004, but only in 2018 did she start doing any type of political activism when she endorsed a Tennessee Democratic candidate for Senate. After that, Swift started endorsing more political candidates, promoting gun control, advocating for gender and race equality, fighting for LGBTQ+ rights, and many more social justice issues. In 2018, when asked about her then-recent public activism, Swift explained, “In the past, I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now." 

In our social media dependent society, it often takes people with large followings like Swift to educate the country and world on essential changes. If people like her don’t, then America is forced to listen to partisan politicians and news outlets that most people ignore anyway. Whether we like it or not, celebrities have a lot of influence on the general population. 

While many of these celebrities and influencers would rather have a lighthearted vibe to their platforms than delve into serious issues, when you have stan accounts and younger generations literally stalking your every move, there is some sense of responsibility that comes with having a social media presence. After all, when the sitting President of the United States relays to his 89 million Twitter followers that he won the election, when, in fact, he did not, it’s dangerous for people to think of that as a fact. Celebrities are the social media version of checks and balances. Yes, Trump said this, but Chrissy Tiegan says he’s wrong! And so does Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé! 

Oh, and by the way, we’re not talking about simply going on Instagram to post a black square on blackout Tuesday, and then subsequently taking a break from “activism” for the next couple of months. We’re talking about real education and spreading real awareness. Nobody scrolls past a black square on Instagram and thinks, “Wow, I’m going to stop being racist <3,” or, “These black squares really make me feel like I need to educate myself!” Sorry, but no—we need MORE.

We’re not saying it has no impact when someone with 800 followers posts on their social media. In fact, they can have a lot. With that being said, a celebrity with 800,000 plus has the potential to change the minds and actions of an entire generation.